Make recordings with my powerbook?

It's definitely possible. You would probably need to buy a directional microphone however. I'm not sure of any free apps that are good for recording without giving you a huge sound file (I originally thought of garageband but an hour long lecture would be huge!). Maybe quicktime pro can be used for recording?

The reason I mentioned the directional mic is b/c my experience with recording lectures using a minidisc player weren't great. It was a decent set-up but the mic would pick up to much ambient noise and the resulting recording were poor at best.

 

I use audacity for recording meetings etc. This works fine for the situations I use it in. There are also built in tools for normalising the volume levels and for upping the speed without upping the pitch. linkety link
I currently use the built in mic as it is very discrete. The downside is that fan noise and hardisk noise do get picked up. An external directional mic would probably be much better for lecture situations.
GB or QT7pro could probably do the same tricks but audacity is relatively simple.

 

What about with an iBook? Has anyone any experience/recommendations (considering the crippling lack of audio input)?

 

If you have an iPod (3G or 4G), buy an iTalk from Griffin. I bought one of these for my iPod to record my professors in college and it worked pretty well. It's a lot easier than lugging a laptop around.

Also, a lot of professors don't like students bringing laptops to class because a lot of students didn't pay attention. I noticed a lot of people playing solitaire or chatting on instant messenger while the lectures were taking place.

 

Wow, I'm glad I've never had a professor pull that one on me. I love my PB for typing notes in class. I'm much faster at typing than I am at writing, and as a bonus, my notes are neater, better organized and... (drum-roll please) Spotlight-searchable. It's fantastic for exam time, when I'm wondering what the hell that one name on my review sheet means. Any professor who doesn't like it can go sit on a tack.

-bluemouse